Azernews.Az

ANKARA – President Abdullah Gul approved a new Cabinet on Wednesday, including a minister to oversee Turkey's European Union bid, and the prime minister promised to dramatically reduce the deficit and pursue reforms to expand rights as the EU has asked, Reuters reported.

Gul swiftly signed off on the Cabinet proposed by his old ally, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The government will face a confidence vote Wednesday that it has the numbers to win.

Two opposition parties plan to boycott the vote, however, to protest court rulings keeping some of their newly elected lawmakers in jail.

The 26-member Cabinet, which includes six new members, will focus on drafting a new constitution -- the current one is a legacy of the 1980 military coup -- to improve rights and freedoms.

Delays in such reforms have hampered Turkey's bid to join the European Union -- which has also wavered because of European skepticism and a dispute over the divided island of Cyprus. Membership seems even more distant now because of Europe's recent financial upheaval.

Erdogan also assured reporters that his new government would take measures to curb the current account deficit, which doubled to $63.4 billion in April compared to a year ago.

"The current account deficit is not worrying," Erdogan said. "You will see, it will be very different in the fourth quarter, we are taking measures accordingly."

Egemen Bagis, the country's chief EU negotiator, took over the newly established European Union Ministry, and Ali Babacan, the former economy minister, was appointed a deputy prime minister.

Former Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan is taking over the economy ministry and longtime Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul was left out of the Cabinet and replaced.

Erdogan, whose party won a third consecutive term in office in June, said his government would especially take steps to improve social welfare.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu retained his position as Turkey seeks new alliances across the world, while urging Israel, an old ally, to apologize and offer compensation to nine Turkish citizens who were killed in a botched raid on an aid ship that attempted to break Israel's blockade on Gaza last year.

The ruling Justice and Development Party has 327 seats in the 550-seat parliament, more than the simple majority required to win the vote of confidence.

The main opposition party, which has refused to take the parliamentary oath, is not expected to participate in the voting. A Kurdish party is also boycotting parliament in protest of court rulings keeping eight newly elected lawmakers in jail.

The opposition parties argue that the jailed lawmakers are entitled to parliamentary immunity that should allow them to postpone their trials until after their term in parliament. They have called on Erdogan's party to rapidly enact changes allowing them to take up their parliamentary seats.

Erdogan on Wednesday criticized the opposition parties for "failing to meet their responsibilities."

The prime minister has reached out to another opposition party, Nationalist Action Party, seeking consensus over a new constitution to replace one drafted during military rule. The two parties together have enough seats to replace the constitution, which requires an absolute majority.